Hotfix Release for Printing Unsteady Results

This release fixes a few small bugs that caused the print_unsteady_results method to fail and produce inaccurate results.

v3.0.0 GUI

This release is a major development in PteraSoftware usability and accessibility.

It adds a GUI capability and .exe installer to allow users to experience the future direction and capability of the software. As of this release, the GUI is still a work in progress, and only the examples that can be found in the "Help" bar can be utilized. Additionally, there is now a video tutorial for installing Ptera Software's codebase. See the ReadMe for more details!

What's Changed

• Create gui by @Zach10a in #18
• Prep for version release by @Zach10a in #24
• Release Prep by @Zach10a in #25

New Contributors

• @Zach10a made their first contribution in #18

Full Changelog: v2.2.1...v3.0.0

Hotfix Release for Force Calculation Bug

This release fixes an issue in the force calculations for unsteady simulations.

Automatic Convergence Analysis

This release implements a new feature: automatic convergence analysis for steady and unsteady problems! Now, you can check that your simulations use a fine enough mesh, an appropriate wake model, and are simulating for long enough. See the convergence.py module and the new example scripts for more details.

Automatic Trim Analysis

This release implements a new feature: automatic trim analysis! Now, you can search for the trim state of steady and unsteady problems with one airplane. See the trim.py module and the new example scripts for more details.

Hotfix for Output Bugs

This hotfix release fixes two bugs in the output.py functions. The first bug caused the animate and draw functions to have incorrect scalar bar ranges. The second problem was that the animate method displayed fast movement unnaturally slowly. This release also corrects minor errors in the validation and formation-flight scripts.

Hotfix for Zero Division Bug

This release fixes the bug described in #12, which caused some users to experience zero division errors due to Numba's fastmath option.

v2.0.0

Release Notes

I’m excited to announce the release of Ptera Software 2.0.0! In addition to improving our tool’s core mission of making flapping-wing flight research fast, easy, and open-source, this new version of Ptera Software incorporates several exciting new features!

Change List

Multiple-Airplane Simulations

Users can now simulate the unsteady aerodynamics of groups of flapping-wing vehicles. This feature has fascinating potential to further the study of avian formation flight! One side effect of this feature is that all solvers require users to input a list of Airplane objects, and unsteady solvers require a list of Movement objects. For simulations with only a single airplane, input lists with only one Airplane/Movement. Check out the unsteady_ring_vortex_lattice_method_solver_variable_formation.py example file for more details.

Performance Improvement

By refining Ptera Software’s use of JIT compilation, this version can complete our unsteady benchmark 1.29 times faster than the previous release!

Animate Method Uses WebP instead of GIF

To mitigate issues with large file sizes and low numbers of possible colors, this version has switched to using WebP file formats instead of GIF for the animate function. The PyPI WebP package was added as a dependency to provide this feature. As an added bonus, the animate feature now produces animations that play at a framerate corresponding to the real frequencies of the motion. Please read through the output script’s animate function for more details.

Force Coefficients instead of Pressures

Previously, the animate and draw functions allowed users to visualize the normal pressure on each wing panel. Unfortunately, this has led to some confusion regarding which direction is defined as normal on a moving wing. Furthermore, the pressures were defined in the geometry frame, which is generally a less revealing choice of axes when interested in forces and moments. To fix this, we’ve switched to allowing users to plot either the lift, drag or side force coefficients on each panel, all of which are defined in the wind frame. Please see the new parameter options for the animate and draw methods for more information.

Major Bug Fixes

Velocity due to Flapping

A significant bug in the unsteady solver’s flapping velocity methods has been corrected. The bug was a sign flip for calculating the apparent wind due to the aircraft’s motion and often caused pressures and forces opposite what was expected for moving geometry. Therefore, all users are recommended to update to this version to analyze moving geometry.

Fix to Bug in Issue #9

This release implements a hotfix to the bug in issue #9 . I also tested it beforehand, and it seems to resolve the problem.

Hotfix for PyPI Packaging Issue

This hotfix is an attempt at fixing the bug described in Issue 9. However, it is difficult to test this without publishing a release. Therefore, if this doesn't work, there will be a new hotfix soon to try again.